Fort Lauderdale Industries: Jobs and Wages by Sector

Seven sectors lead the city's own pitch to business: marine, tourism, technology, finance, manufacturing, aerospace and creative industries, with Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport cited as nearby hubs (City of Fort Lauderdale).

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance keeps its own list of target industries: aviation and aerospace, financial services, global logistics, headquarters, life sciences, manufacturing, marine industries and technology (Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance). That list is the Alliance's recruiting program, not a measure of where Broward jobs are today.

The measured picture comes from the federal Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which counts jobs reported by employers covered by state unemployment insurance laws, more than 95 percent of U.S. jobs (BLS QCEW overview). For Broward County in March 2026 it counts 82,218 establishments and 855,401 jobs across all employers, with an average weekly wage of $1,543 in the first quarter (BLS QCEW, Broward County). Employment was down 11,708 jobs, or 1.4 percent, from March 2025 (BLS QCEW). These are Broward County figures that include Fort Lauderdale; BLS describes QCEW data as available at the county, state and national levels (BLS QCEW overview).

Retail trade is the largest private employer group in Broward County, with 101,899 jobs in March 2026, followed by health care and social assistance at 96,877 and accommodation and food services at 84,660 (BLS QCEW, Broward County).

Table source: BLS QCEW first quarter 2026 county file for Broward, private ownership, March employment and quarterly average weekly wage (BLS QCEW); industry titles from the BLS QCEW industry titles list (BLS).

The table shows the gap between where Broward's jobs are and where its pay is. The two lowest paying sectors in the table are both among the three largest: accommodation and food services averaged $718 a week and retail $967 (BLS QCEW). Finance and insurance averaged $3,150 a week, professional, scientific, and technical services $2,389 and wholesale trade $2,193 (BLS QCEW). Professional services also has the most establishments of any sector, 15,794 across Broward County (BLS QCEW).

Two building and trade sectors round out the top tier. Construction employed 51,946 people at 6,872 Broward establishments in March 2026 at an average of $1,603 a week, down 1.8 percent over the year, and wholesale trade employed 45,145, down 2.5 percent (BLS QCEW). Neither has a separate Fort Lauderdale guide; the economy hub covers business licensing for both.

Port Everglades reports more than $48.3 billion in annual business activity and more than 13,139 direct local jobs, and FDOT credits Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with 110,047 jobs (Port Everglades) (FDOT).

Port Everglades also says it supports nearly 295,166 jobs statewide (Port Everglades). For FLL, the Florida Department of Transportation airport profile reports 110,047 jobs and $5.0 billion in payroll from its most recent study, the 2022 Statewide Aviation Economic Impact Study (FDOT). FDOT defines its jobs figure as the total number of people employed as a result of the airport, an economic impact measure, so it overlaps with the QCEW sector counts rather than adding to them (FDOT).

Cruise traffic has grown each year since the pandemic shutdown. Port Everglades counts 4,773,873 total cruise passengers in fiscal year 2025, a preliminary figure, up from 4,127,715 in fiscal year 2024 and 3,870,342 in fiscal year 2018 (Port Everglades cruise statistics). Multi-day cruise passengers alone reached 4,640,146 (Port Everglades).

Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport plays a different role. The city says the FAA classes Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, at 6000 NW 21st Ave., as a general aviation airport with no commercial airline flights, serving corporate flight departments, private owners and charter operators (City of Fort Lauderdale). The airport also hosts Foreign-Trade Zone 241, which its page pitches as a way to make a company more competitive with those abroad (City of Fort Lauderdale).

The federal count shows strain in the sector that moves cargo and travelers. Transportation and warehousing in Broward had 36,455 jobs in March 2026, down 2,474, or 6.4 percent, from a year earlier (BLS QCEW). The airport figure on the FDOT page is four years old, so the county trend is the more current signal. Cruise passengers, terminals and port jobs are covered in the Fort Lauderdale cruise and tourism industry guide, and FLL and Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in the Fort Lauderdale aviation guide.

The marine industry is small in raw jobs but highly concentrated in Broward: QCEW counts 253 boat dealer establishments with 1,747 jobs and 94 marinas with 1,144 jobs in March 2026 (BLS QCEW, Broward County).

Boat dealers carry an employment location quotient of about 9 in the Broward file, meaning their share of county jobs is roughly nine times their share nationally (BLS QCEW). Marinas sit near 6 on the same measure (BLS QCEW). Boat building adds 80 establishments and 400 jobs, so in the federal count Broward's marine jobs sit more in selling and docking boats than in building them (BLS QCEW).

Both dealer and marina employment fell over the year, by 8.1 percent and 9.1 percent respectively from March 2025 (BLS QCEW). Wages, waterfront facilities and the boat show are covered in the Fort Lauderdale marine and yachting industry guide.

Health care added jobs in Broward over the past year while finance shed them: health care and social assistance gained 593 jobs, or 0.6 percent, and finance and insurance lost 3,811, or 9.7 percent, between March 2025 and March 2026 (BLS QCEW, Broward County).

Health care and social assistance is the county's second largest private sector, with 9,587 establishments and an average weekly wage of $1,349 (BLS QCEW). Hospitals, health systems and their Fort Lauderdale campuses are covered in the Fort Lauderdale healthcare industry guide, and patient-facing questions about hospitals and emergency rooms in the Fort Lauderdale healthcare hub.

Finance and insurance remains the best paid large sector in Broward at $3,150 a week across 4,322 establishments, even after the drop (BLS QCEW). The City of Fort Lauderdale lists finance among its key sectors (City of Fort Lauderdale). Banks, branch counts and financial jobs are covered in the Fort Lauderdale finance and banking industry guide.

Five Digital Towns guides go deeper on Fort Lauderdale industries: aviation, cruise and tourism, finance and banking, healthcare, and marine and yachting.

Key facts in this table come from BLS QCEW (BLS QCEW), Port Everglades (Port Everglades) and FDOT (FDOT). Retail, food service and construction, three of the largest Broward sectors, have no separate Fort Lauderdale industry guide yet; their figures appear only in the table above.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the BLS QCEW first quarter 2026 Broward County file, the City of Fort Lauderdale Economic Development page, Port Everglades and FDOT.